Skeptics are missing big picture in opposing Howe bridge

Andrew Doctoroff is senior special projects manager to Gov. Rick Snyder and oversees Michigan’s participation in the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.

The Erie Canal had its fair share of critics, including legislators who derided it as a "big ditch." That was in 1817.

History proves opponents of this singular infrastructure project were myopic, blind to its transformational economic benefits. As one eminent historian put it, thanks to the Erie Canal, "[j]obs multiplied" and New York redrew "the economic map of the United States and put itself at the center."

Two hundred years later, groundbreaking on another once-in-a-generation public works project, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, approaches. As with the Erie Canal, there are skeptics committed to stopping progress in its tracks.

Opponents have over the years trotted out specious arguments to kill the project.

They have claimed its underlying framework agreement is illegal. But two courts have emphatically rejected this contention. They also assert, falsely, that a new bridge will expose Michigan taxpayers to too much risk; Canada is generously financing the entire project.

Then, there are critics who say the private sector alone should assume responsibility for vital infrastructure assets, including international crossings. However, ensuring existence of physical structures needed for economic growth is a core governmental function. Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party conceived the transcontinental railroad.

Champions of the status quo seize on snapshots in time to claim border crossing traffic has recently decreased.

Beware any assertion based solely on statistics not vetted by objective experts.

Caution is particularly warranted when it comes to arguments that are: grounded in just a few years of data; ignore projections that border traffic will increase over the next several decades; and disregard visible proof that, every day, long queues of semi-trailers idle while waiting to cross the Ambassador Bridge.

Fluctuations in traffic counts have done nothing to shake Canada's and Michigan's commitment to the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which was conceived to strengthen the economic security of future generations.

Many reasons for building the Gordie Howe International Bridge have nothing to do with traffic volume.

Detroit and Windsor flank a vital international trade corridor through which 25 percent of all United States-Canadian commerce passes. Our regional economy depends on reliable Detroit River crossings.

Yet the Ambassador Bridge is the sole commercial span crossing the Detroit River. It is 88 years old. Windsor streets have closed due to slabs of concrete falling from the bridge. Canadian officials concluded crumbling railings "pose [a] risk to public safety."

The Gordie Howe International Bridge will thus provide desperately needed "redundancy." Two bridges in different locations will protect us from structural damage that may be caused by time or terrorism and keep traffic moving during incidents or technology failures. With the new bridge, we will — to borrow from Ulysses S. Grant — no longer risk "everything upon the cast of a single die."

Furthermore, the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge will instantly fatten Michigan's infrastructure asset portfolio, strengthening its supply chain. Economic opportunities — like the creation of an internationally competitive logistics hub — will boldly announce themselves. The project's highway-to-highway connectivity and state-of-the-art ports of entry will help create a "seamless border" catering to the needs of today's manufacturers.

Progress on the bridge, which will generate thousands of jobs, is striking: Efforts to procure the private-sector partner continue; Michigan has obtained control of 93 percent of the 636 parcels in the project's Detroit footprint; utilities are being relocated as part of $100 million in preparatory activities underway in Michigan. This project also includes a robust community benefits plan.

Every day, project partners solve problems and forge ahead together — demonstrating we can still accomplish great things. This year, bridge construction will begin; over time, two towers as tall as the Renaissance Center will rise from the banks of the Detroit River.

Meanwhile, the hectoring of naysayers with vested interests will continue. But those closest to the project, as always, brim with optimism. This bridge will add to an ever-growing list of achievements that demonstrate the economic resurgence of Detroit, the state of Michigan and Canada, our most important trading partner.